Windmill-oiler.



No. 854,964. r I .PATENTED MAY 28, 1907. L. c. POND & G. 0. WAGNER.

WINDMILL OILER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 12.1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEETL I PATENTED MAY 28, 1907 L. O. POND & G. G. WAGNER.

WINDMILL OILER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 12, 1906.

WMaw, .4440

Inna-"0",

LIN N AEUS C. PON D AND GEORGE c. WAGNER, F Los ANGELES,

CALIFORNIA.

WINDMILL=QILER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28, 1907.

Application filed May 12,1906. Serial No- 316,575.

To all 1.0710112 it may concern:

-Be it known that we, LINNAEUS C. POND and GEORGE C. WAGNER, bothcitizens of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county ofLos-An eles and State of California, have invente new and usefulImprovements in Windmill-Oilers, of which the following is aspecification.

In a former patent issued on March 16, 1897, to Linnaeus C. Pond, No.579,008, is shown a distributer for lubricating the bearings of awindmill, the oil being delivered to the distributer from a reservoirfrom time to time by suitable valve means which was operated by handfrom the ground.

The object ofthe present invention is to provide for automaticallydelivering oil eriodically from' the reservoir to the distributer.

A further object is to cause the oil to be delivered from the reservoirto the distributer at such periods as will properly lubricate thebearings, the delivery periods being automatically determined by thenumber of revolu- .tions of the windmill, thereby securing just theamount of oil required according to the actual operation of thewindmill.

The delivery of oil-from the reservoir to the distributer is controlledby a valve mechanism, and a further object is to provide means wherebywhen a relatively thick or heavy oil is being used the valve mechanismwill automatically keep the valve open for a relatively longer time thanwhen a relatively light oil is being used, in order to give the heavyoil the longer time requisite for its relatively sluggish flow from thereservoir to the distributer.

Another object is to provide a device whereby oil may be conveyed fromthe sta tionary distributer to the rotating hub or sleeve of the wheel.

Another object is to provide a flexible oil distributing pipe which.hasextreme dura- 4 bility.

Another ob'ect is to provide for automatically positively closing thevalve after it has been opened, even though the wind wheel is notoperating.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and referringthereto :Figure 1 is a side elevation of the upper part of a windmill,showing the complete apparatus form+ ing the invention.

' and 25.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of' the gearing and adjacent parts which operateFig. 6 is 'a sectional view on line :ra: Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a detail view of the clamping device which supports thetimingmechanism, reservoir, and distributer. Fig. 8 is a side elevationof the air regulating screw.

1 designates the upper part of the windmill tower upon whichis revolublymounted a head 2. The head2 has a vertical arm 3 which supports a wheelspindle 4, upon which is mounted'the sleeve or hub 5 of the Wheel frame6. The arm 3 has a journal 7 in which a shaft 8 is mounted carrying agear 9- which meshes with a pinion 10 mounted on the s indle 4. The gear9 carries a crank pin 11 w ich operates the pitman 12, to which the urnrod 13 is connected by links 14. The rear 2 has an arm 15 to which ispivoted a rock lever 16. The end of the arm 16 has lugs 17 which projectinto slots in links 14. Fastened to the rock arm 16 is a. block 18 towhich is connected the lower end of a link 19.

20 designates the case of a timin mechanism which is fastened to avertical rod 21 by bolts 22, as shown in Fig. 4. The rod 21 assesthrough an eye bolt 23, as shown in igs. 1 and 7,and is clamped inposition thereby. The eye bolt 23 is supported by a clamping framecomprising two plates 24 The lates 24 and 25 are arranged on opposite sies of the journal 7, the plate 24 having teeth 26, which bite the metalof the journal, the lower ends ofthe plates 24 and 25 being forcedtightly against opposite faces of the journal 7, by means of a threadedstud 27 arranged above the eye bolt 23. The plate 24 may also beprovided with a set screw 28, to positively lockthe clamp on the journal7.

The rod 21 may com rise a pipe, as shown, and its upper end or t atportion which lies above the casing 20 of the timing mechanism isconstructedto form a distributer 29. A distributer of this type formspart of the subject matter of the atent above referred to and thereforewi only be described 7 upper bearing of the pitman 12, and pipe e ofthese oil tubes is unique.

briefly. The distributer 29 is provided with a number of dischargeopenings having nipples 30, which are located at definite levels.Connected to some of the nipples are oil pipes 31, which convey the oilfrom the distributer to the bearings to be lubricated. In the presentcase there are four bearings to be lubricated and consequently only fourpipes 31 are employed, therefore the other nipples 30 may be closed byplugs 32. Connected to the upper end of the distributer 29 is areservoir 33, while a valve 34 is arranged between the reservoir 33 andthe discharge points of the distributer. The valve 34 is normally heldclosed by a spring 35, and has a stem 36 adapted to coact with a lever37 to open the valve when the lever 37 is depressed.

As the discharge openings ofthe distributer are located atdiiierentlevels, so that the surface of the lubricant passes them in succession,the supply of lubricant is cut off from'them insuccession, the quantityof oil which escapes through the discharge openings varies inproportionto their relative elevation; thus the oil pipe a, which supplies thewind wheel hearing which requires the greatest quantity ofoil, isconnected with the lowest nipple of the distributor, the pipe forsupplying the bearing requiring the least amount of oil is connectedwith the highest nip le, and the other pipes are connected to t eintermediate nipples according to the relative demands of the bearingswhich they supply.

As'shown, one of the pipes (1 leads to the leads to the lower bearing ofthe pitman 12. Pipe b leads to the journal 7 for oiling the shaft 8, andpipe a conveys to a distributing ring to be described later. Theconstruction Each tube com rises a coiled wire, the coils of which lie 0osely together. When first used an extremely slight amount ofoil worksbetween the coils and collects dust which, being exposed to sunand.wind, combines to form a skinor leathery casing which effectually sealsthe cracks between the coils and thus a perfectly flexible tube isformed having er treme durability.

The timing mechanism for periodically operating thevalve 34, is shown indetail in Figs. 3 and 4, and is housed within the casing 20 beforereferred to, and within the casing are three shafts 38, 39 and 40.Loosely mounted on the shaft 38 is a ratchet wheel 41, the spacesbetween its teeth being formed concave as shown. The ratchet wheel 41has a hub 42 which is provided with a single tooth or dog 43, whichoperates an intermediate ratchet wheel 44, which is mounted on the shaft39. The ratchet wheel 44 has a hub 45 which is provided with a singletooth or dog 46, which is adapted to operate anment of the ratchet wheel44.

other ratchet wheel 47, which is loosely mounted on the shaft 40. A.rock lever 48 is loosely pivoted on the shaft 38 and has a 'head 49,which' is provided with a recess 56 fprmin an inclined face 51 and aball retaining wall 52. As shown in Fig. 4, the head 49 has a flange 53which lies behind the edge of the ratchet wheel 41, thus forming aninclosure for a ball 54. As the rock lever 18 is moved in one direction,the inclined shoulder 51 moves the ball 54 bodily with the rock arm, andthe ball 54 being seated in a concave recess between two teeth of theratchet wheel 41, thus turns the ratchet wheel 41 a distance equal tothe stroke of the rock lever. When the rock lever is moved in theopposite direction the inclined face 51 moves away from the ball 54, andas soon as the retaining wall 52 strikes the ball 54 it moves the ball54 back with the rock lever, the ball riding up overthe rear tooth andpassing as many teeth in this manner as the ratchet wheel has beenadvanced by the preceding stroke. the ball dropping by its weight behindeach tooth as it passes overthe tooth. so that when the rock lever hasreached the end of its recovery stroke the ball is seated and ready toadvance the ratchet wheel upon the next forward movement of the rocklever. As the ratchet wheel 41 is rotated its tooth 43 is moved aroundtherewith, and it turns the wheel 44 the distance-of one tooth for eachcomplete revolution of the ratchet wheel -11. In the position shown inFig. 3, the dog 43 is in position to o erate the ratchet wheel 44 thedistance 0 one tooth upon the next stroke of the rock lever 43. As theintermediate ratchet wheel 44 is rotated, its dog 46 operates theratchet wheel 47 the distance of one tooth for each complete revolutionof the ratchet'wheel 44, and. in the position shown in Fig. 3, the dog46 is in position to operate the ratchet wheel 47 upon the next move- Aweighted retaining pawl 55 is mounted on the shaft 39 for reventingbackward movement of the rate et wheel 41. The ratchet wheel 44 isprevented from reverse movement by a rctaining pawl 56, which isyieldingly held in lace by a flat spring 57. The ratchet 47 is held fromreverse movement by a? retaining pawl 58, yieldingly held in place by allat spring 59. The head 49 of the rock lever 43, as shown in Fig. 4,has a grooved recess which receives a rod 66, the rod 66 being clampedin place in the groove by a washer 61 and bolt 62. The rod 61 extendsout through an opening 63 formed in the casing 29, and fastened to therod 69 by .an adiuslabh. clam 64 is an extension rod 65, the end of whie1 has an eye 66, which articulates with an eye 67 formed in the end ofthe operatin rod 19 before referred to.

68 designates a carrier formed preferably of sheet-metal and havinganextcnsion 69.

steam the lower end of which rests the extension 69. One end of thedouble rod is formed with a hook 71, and a coil spring 72 is confinedbetween the hook 71 and the extension 69, the carrier 68 being capableof an upward sliding movement on the double rod 70, the spring 72serving to retract the carrier on the double rod 70. The other end'ofthe rod .70 is extended to the upper part of the casing andis fastenedto astationary stud 73. Mounted on the carrier 68 is an air cylinder 74,provided with a hollow piston rod 75 anddetail in Fig. 8, havingone-face tapered off at'79. By adjusting the screw 78 up or down,-theair escape opening formed by the face 79 may be increased or diminishedto regulate the assage of air therethrough.

Soldered or ot erwise attached to the lower,

end of the piston rod 75 is an arm 80, to

which is pivoted a'link 81, the upper end ,of-

the link 81 being connected to the lever 37 before referred to. Mountedon the ratchet wheel 47 isan operating stud 82, which by the rotation.of the ratchet wheel 47, is brought against the under side of theextension 69, and during further movement of the ratchet wheel 47 liftsthe carrier 68 and cyl inder 74, compressing-the spring 72, and as thecylinder 74 is thn's raised gradually, the air flows past the regulatingscrew 78, through the hollow-pistonjrod75 into the cylinder 74 above thepiston 76.

After the ratchet wheel 47 has moved a fur ther distance sufliciently tomove the stud 82 out from under the extension 69, the spring 72 quicklyexpands and forces down the cylinder 7 4, and as the air is restrained.in its passage by the regulating screw 78, the air 1s compressed to adefinite degree above the piston 76, which results in forcing down thepiston 76 quickly, and the latter through the pistonrod 75 moves downthe arm 80, and the latter draws down the link 81, which rocks the lever37 and opens the valve 34, allowing oil from the reservoir 33 to flowpast the valve 34 and fill the distributor. After the valve 34 has beenopened, its spring 35 commences to react and force out the stem 36,which acts upon the lever 37 to lift the link 81 and. elevate the piston76, and as the spring 72 is stronger than the spring 35, the carrier 68and cylinder 74 remain in their normal position, and only the' pist'on 76 and piston rod are raised by thesprin 35 at a rate pro orti'onate tothe outflow 0 air past the regu atin screw 78. Thus .if the screw 78 isadjuste to allow the air to pass freely tubes 95 and 96 toward thesleeve 5.

Y the tubes.

into the hollow piston, rod, the closing movement of the spring 35 willbe very quick, while if the passage of air past the regulating screw isrestricted to a considerable extent, the closing movement of the s ring35 will be relatively slower. It is obvious that the timing of theclosing movement of the'valve adjusting the regulating screw 78, so thatwhen using a heavy 'oil the valve 34 will remain open a requisite lengthof time to allow the distributer to become filled, after which the valve34 will be closed, while if alight oil is employed the screw 78 may beregulated to close the valve 34 after it has been open'by a relativelyshort time. By this device the closing movement of the valve may beregulated to the proper degree suitable for any character or" oil.

In order to convey oil to the sleeve 5, I providev a device illustratedin detail in Figs. 5

v,and 6, in which designates an external ring having an internal annularconcave groove, the ring 90 being secured to the arms 6 of the windwheel. an inner ring 91 of similar form, as shown, which is split at 92to enable it to be contracted when being sprung into place within thering. 90. The ring 91 is detachably secured. when in place by a setscrew 93. The external ring 90 is cut away at diametrically oppositepoints to form recesses 94 which enable oil tubes 95 and 96 to beconnected'with the tinner ring 91, as shown in Fig. 5. The other ends ofthe tubes 95 and 96 are respectively connected to opposite sides of thesleeve 5 and communicate with oil holes therein. Thus as the wind wheelrotates, the two rings 91 and 90 together with the oil tubes 95 and 96rotate as an integral piece.-

As shown in Fig. 1, the discharge end of the oil tube a is arranged at apoint compassed by the distributer, so that it will discharge oil intothe groove within the inner rin 91, and as the wind wheel rotates thecentri ugal action will hold the oil within the groove in the ring 91and cause'it to flow through {the this device distributes oil to therotating perfect manner, and there being no working joints employed,there is no chance for leaka e. Moreover, it 'will be observed that w enthe windwheel stops rotating, the device will cease feeding oil to thesleeve 5, owing to the absence of centrifugal force which is required tocause the oilto move through When this'device is to be used on a windmill on which the Wind Wheel revolves in the direction opposite to thatof the wind wheel shown in the drawings, the inner ring 9 1 may beremoved by unscrewing the set screw 93 and then contractingthe innerring to allow it to disengage from the groove in the outer ring. Thering may then be reversed Within the ring 90 is- 34 may be regulated toa nicety bymeans of i Thus l and sprung back into place in the outerring so that the tubes 95 and 96 will curve in the opposite direction,thus causing the oil to be forced through the tubes to the wind wheelbearing.

The rods 63 and can be moved relatively to each other by means of theclamp 64 to adjust the distance of the eye 66 from the rock lever 48. Ifit is desired to open the valve 34 with greater frequency the eye 66 maybe adjusted closer in, which will with a given stroke of the pitmanoperate the rock arm 49 through a greater length of stroke, therebycausing the ratchet wheel 41 and associated gearing to be more rapidlyoperated. By'adjusting the rods 65 so that the eye 66 stands fartherfrom the rock lever 49, the stroke of the latter will obviousl beshortened and the train of gearing will be operated at a slower rateproportionate to the speed of the wind wheel so that the valve 34 willnot be opened so frequently. It is manifest that by this adjustment theoiling periods may be very closely regulated. The term period is nothere used in. the sense of a certain elapsed time, but refers to acertain number of revolutions of the wind wheel which take place betweeneach automatic This ad-' opening and closing of the valve. justmentlikewise permits of accommodating various lengths of pitman strokes asfound in various sizes or types of wind mills and is. an importantfeature for the reason that this apparatus is designed to be applied toany make or size of wind mill in use. The entire sup; port of thapparatus is by means of the single clampi g device shown in Fig. 7which is so constructed that it can be applied to some part of a mill,even though it may not be applied to the exact part as shown in Fig. 1,while the attachment of the rod 19 can be made to any convenient part ofthe mill which has a reciprocating or rocking motion, while thedistributor is provided with sufficient oil discharge openings to enableoil tubes to be connected to as many bearings as are ever employed.

Whatwe claim is 1. An oil reservoir, a distributer below the reservoirand having discharge orifices at different horizontal levels, a wheel,and means operated by 'the wheel for allowing oil to flow down bygravity from the reservoir to the distributor.

2. An oil reservoir, means having a normally closed connection with thereservoir for distributing oil to thebearings, a wheel,

- and means operated by the wheel for periodically opening and thenclosing said connection thereby allowing oil to pass from the reservoirto the distributing means, and means for regulating the closing of saidconnection to suit the character of oil.

3. An oil reservoir, a distributor below the reservoir and havingdischarge orifices at different horizontal levels, a wheel, meansoperating automatically for releasing a definite quantity of oil fromthe reservoir and allowing it to flow to the distributor from the reservoir at periods regulated by the revolutions of the wheel.

4. An oil reservoir, a distributer, a valve normally preventing flow ofoil from the reservoir to the distributor, a wheel, means operated bythe wheel for periodically opening the valve, and means for retardingthe (losing of the valve.

5. A11 oil reservoir, a distributer, a valve normally preventing [low ofoil from the reservoir to the distributer, a wheel, means operated bythe wheel for periodically opening the valve, and pneumatic means forretarding the closing of the valve.

6. An oil reservoir, a distributer, a valve between the reservoir anddistributer, a wheel, gearing operated by the wheel for opening thevalve after a definite number of revolutions of the wheel, means forregulating said gearing to vary the ratio between the revolutions of thewheel and the opening of the valve, and means for retarding the. closingof the valve.

7'. In a windmill oiler, a clamping frame adapted to be attached to apart of the windmill, a rod adjustably supported by the clamping frame,an oil reservoir supported by the rod, a distributer supported by therod, a wheel, means operated by the wheel for allowing oil to pass fromthe reservoir to the distributer, and means for carrying oil from thedistributor to the parts of the windmill to be lubricated.

8. An oil reservoir, a distributor, a valve between the reservoir anddistributer, a wheel, means operated by the wheel for opening the valve,means for closing the valve, and means for retarding the closing of thevalve comprising an air cylinder, a piston therein, a connection fromthe piston to the valve, and means for regulating the escape of air fromthe piston.

9. An oil reservoir, a distributer, a valve between the reservoir anddistributer, a wheel, a train of gearing operated step by step by thewheel, a carrier, an air eylmder mounted on the carrier, a pistontherein, a connection from the pistoirto said valve, an abutment on oneof the wheels of said train for liftrng said carrier, means fordepressing said carrier when released by said abutment, means forclosing said valve, and means for regulating the escape of air from saidcylinder.

10. An oil reservoir, a distributer, a valve between the reservoir anddistributer, a train of ratchet gearing, a rock arm, a ball looselycarried by said rock arm for operating said gearing, a rod'fixed to saidrock arm, an extension rod adjustably mounted on the former rod, a windwheel, means operated by the wind wheel for rocking said extension rodabutment and said carrier, a-hollow piston rod connected to the piston,means for regulating the escape of air through said piston rod, an armcarried bythe piston rod, a lever for operating said lvalve, and a linkconnecting said lever with said arm. i

'11. An oil reservoir, a distributer, a valve between the reservoir anddistributor, a casing, a timing mechanism remova'bly mounted in saidcasing comprising a frame, a plurality of shafts mounted in said'frame,a plurality of ratchet wheels mounted on said shafts, one of saidratchet wheels having a hub with a dog adapted to drive the intermediateratchet wheel, the hub of the intermediate ratchet wheel having a dogadapted to drive another ratchet wheel, a rock arm having a recessedhead with a ball loosely confined therein for operating the first namedratchet wheel, a carrier within said casing, a double rod, one end ofwhich is connected to said frame, the other end having a hook, acompression spring coiled around said double rod and l'ying between saidhook and the carrier, the carrier being slidable alongsaid double rod, acylinder mounted on said carrier, a piston and a hollow piston rodmounted in said cylinder, valve means for controlling the passage of airthrough said hollow piston rod, an arm attached to the end ofthe pistonrod and extending through the opening in said casing, a rod rigidlyattached to said rock lever and extending through an opening in saidcasing, an

extension rod adjustably' connected to the first rod, a wind wheel, apitman operated thereby, a rock lever operated by said pitman,; a linkconnecting said rock lever with.

said extension rod, a lever. for opening said valve,"a spring forclosing said valve, and a link connecting said last named leverwith' thearm on said piston rod.

12. A distributer, a wind wheel, anouter ring fastened to the windwheel, the outer ring having an internal channel, a similar inner ringslit and sprung within the outer ring and detachably fastened therein, atube connected with the distributer with its discharge end arranged todeliver oil to the channel of the inner ring, a plurality of tubesconnected to the bearing of thewheel and extending to the inner; ringfor conveying oil from the inner ring to the bearing of the wheel. I

13. A rod, a reservoir mounted at the upper end of said rod, adistributer formed in said rod, a'valve between the distributer andreservoir, means for adjustably fastening said rod to the upper part ofa wind mill, a casing carried by said rod below said dis tributer, atrain of gearing in said casing, a connection from said gearing to saidvalve for operating the valve, means operated by the wind wheel foroperating said gearing, and

pneumatic means within said casing for retarding the closing of saidvalve.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hand at Los AngelesCalifornia this 4th dayof May 1906.

LINNAEUSO. POND. I

GEORGE C. WAGNER. In presence of- GEORGE T. HAOKLEY, ARTHUR P. KNIGHT.

